Similarities Between Master Harold And The Boys Hally

Racism can be hard to see, especially when it comes from within oneself. In general, it's harder to see faults in one's own actions than in others’. In Master Harold and the boys Hally is a prime example of this fault. Hally sees himself as a superior being that is unable to be racist, and manages to do so with relative ease. His high mindedness makes him overly pompous and even more blind to his own prejudice. Hally remarks, “Oh, so you’re one of them, are you?” (20). He tends to diminish others, to make himself seem better. He is confident that he can do nothing wrong, which leads to his outburst towards Sam. Hally fancies himself enlightened and intellectual; his fall, then, stands as a warning to progressives: denial is the accomplice of prejudice—it broadens and supplements racism’s destructive powers.

To be sure,
He lets slip a number of comments that are not only degrading to Sam, but the entire community of African Americans. To be sure, he manages to hide these small statements within other topics of conversation, but with closer examination his racism is clear. Some may argue that Hally is unable to be racist, because he is friends with Sam-- a black man. Even so, he does not seem to respect Sam. One may continue to say that since Sam did not say anything to Hally about being racist, that he was not actually racist at all. While this is a valid thought, Sam is working for Hally and he runs the chance of getting fired or into trouble. For instance, an example of Hally’s discriminatory actions is his superiority towards Sam and Willie. He yells, “Act Your bloody age!” (13) when Willie accidentally hits him with a towel. Hally then proceeds to throw it back, but still